Selling Your House During Divorce in Long Island – Options At An Emotional Time

Selling your house during divorce in Long Island can be extremely difficult. Emotions can be high in a divorce. Chances are that someone at some time wants to destroy the house. The reality is, eventually emotions subside and we all become adults once again.

When it comes to divorce proceedings, the courts usually guide us to being adults faster than we are ready. Keep the home in tact because if you have to sell, you want top dollar. Plus you don’t want your ex-spouse to claim you damaged the property and have your portion garnished for the momentarily emotionally gratifying deed.

Agreeing to Sell and Split

One of the common ways to split assets in a divorce, especially a house, is to put it on the market, sell it and split any equity equally among the two of you. This is common especially if there aren’t children involved. It simplifies things by eliminating a pending mortgage and if you can sell quickly, expedites the divorce process. That being said, if the housing market is slow, this could drag things on longer than desired.

Talk to a realtor. Get an honest assessment for your Long Island home. Find out what estimated costs will get you a higher return. Negotiate realtor fees to keep net profits as high as possible and do a market analysis so you have reasonable expectations of the sale.

Preparing the House for Sale in Long Island

Do your best as a couple to clean up the house and make it presentable for sale. Remember you both have a stake in the successful sale. De-clutter and make it look like a happy family lives there. Continue to mow the grass. And if you really want to make it smooth, tackle that honey-do-list you have been avoiding.

She’ll scratch her head wondering why you were incapable of doing it before and you’ll know you just increased your sale value. Funny how you can win that way sometimes.

The Next House

If you are selling the marital house and will be buying a new house, make sure to coordinate things with your realtor to ensure you time the purchase properly. Divorces get hung up in court and house sales get hung up for a million reasons. You don’t want to be tied into a new home mortgage when other components fall apart.

Be honest with lenders and start the process early. While you need to be prepared, don’t lock any rates in before you are really ready to pull the trigger. Constantly running credit for new approvals can hurt credit scores.

One Spouse Keeps The Pad

While this option is more common when children are involved (to keep them stable), it is a viable option in any divorce if parties agree. In this scenario, you decide to buy the house from your soon-to-be-ex. He or she will agree to quit their interest in the property by completing a quit claim deed. For their part, you agree to assume the mortgage and buy them out of their equity.

To buy your spouse out of the mortgage, you need to contact the lender and explain the divorce scenario and request an assumption of the loan. Lenders will more than likely underwrite you as an individual to make sure you can afford the house on your own. Make sure you document all income you have, including spousal support.

If the lender won’t let you assume the loan, you need to apply for a refinance. If interest rates are lower, this might not be a bad scenario anyway. Again, this is a loan application. Meet all income and debt obligations to qualify.

If you need some assistance for selling your house during divorce in Long Island, give us a call at 516-704-7025 or FILL OUT OUR ONLINE FORM.

My name is Joe Cordes and I am the owner of Comax Properties, a local real estate solutions company. We're dedicated to helping Long Island homeowners who need a solution for their house or mortgage trouble. If you need to sell a house in Long Island call me at 516-704-7025 so we can talk about your specific needs.

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Testimonials

Comax Properties

I had a great experience working with Joe from Comax Properties with a house I owned in Hempstead NY. He was extremely professional and honest and did exactly what he said he was going to do. He was always very courteous and was an absolute pleasure to deal with. I would highly recommend Comax Properties

I met Joe Cordes when two different clients of mine need funding on homes that they were purchasing from Comax Properties in Long Island NY. I was immediately impressed by the high quality of the renovated homes he was selling. He definitely takes pride in putting a quality house on the market. He is always very straight forward and honest and resolves any issues that arise immediately. I deal with a lot of real estate professionals in my business and Joe is one of the best. I highly recommend Joe and his company.

Joe was instrumental in helping me in the sale of my moms house. It was already a stressful and overwhelming situation that was difficult to tackle at times, and selling her home wasn’t something I wanted to worry about. He was extremely informative every step of the process. He even went above and beyond to help me in other ways with my own home, even though it had nothing to do with the sale. If you’re looking into selling your home, Joe is the right person to go with!

Joe was an absolute pleasure to work with. While we decided to go a different route in the end, the information and guidance that he provided was priceless. It’s not often that you find someone willing to help you when they have nothing to gain from it. If an opportunity presents itself in the future for me to work with him again I wouldn’t hesitate and you shouldn’t either.

Erika Coble, Lynbrook, NY

Comax Properties

I first met Joe from Comax Properties while I was trying to sell my parent’s property in mid-’17. He showed up to take a look, maybe make an offer…but quickly realized that this particular property was not going to be a good fit for his interests. With most people in the real estate business, once they realize there’s no money in it for them…you see their taillights in about 3 seconds. But…not Joe! Realizing he had the knowledge & expertise that could ease & expedite what I wanted to do, he generosity offered his time & very helpful & dead-on accurate advice…spending well over an hour with me, discussing my situation…which was EXTREMELY helpful, and ultimately led to my getting even a greater selling price for the property than originally thought possible. For his time & guidance, he asked for nothing…offering only a friendly handshake & his personal contact info should I have any other questions that I wanted to get help with. In this day & age of ‘quick buck’ shysters, you just don’t find people like Joe too often…a person of high moral caliber, genuinely concerned & interested in “other” people’s success…even when it won’t benefit him at all. Joe, I want to thank you sir! I very much appreciate what you did for me & my family. You’re a true gentleman! And if you’re in the market for, or need Joe & his expertise…you can feel comfortable that you’re not dealing with a ‘fly-by-night’ type of person…because Joe’s one of the good ones, a man of high moral character & responsibility. Good luck in your future endeavors!!

We are a real estate solutions agency that specializes in helping homeowners get rid of burdensome houses fast. We are investors and problem solvers who can buy your house fast with a fair all cash offer. We also offer free foreclosure and short sale advise and assistance.